Many of the Missouri Southern faithful have been up in arms about the way our campus has been cared for during the bad weather we experienced. I know most of us are quick to complain because we have to park on the sheet of ice covering the parking lots or we land on our backsides as we go up the sidewalks to our classes. We quickly blame the physical plant because they have not done their jobs. It’s time we remove the blinders from our eyes and take a quick reality check.

The guys in the physical plant do a decent job with what they have. The crew is short two people, which is not good. A lot of the equipment is dilapidated and at high risk of breaking down. Oh, yeah, and the materials they have to do the job aren’t necessarily what they need to get it done. While some ice melt is available to use, the majority of the sidewalks and all of the parking lots are covered with cinder to help break up the ice. Even then, the cinder is only available if the company contracted to deliver the cinder deems the roads in Kansas safe enough for transportation purposes before they agree to pick it up and deliver it to campus. It takes a while for ice to melt with cinder, even with the physical plant guys trying to plow through it in their 20-year-old pickup truck that is in constant danger of overheating.

These guys are here doing their best to keep the school in mint condition, and you cannot fault them for that.

Like virtually everyone else, one of the biggest problems they have is a lack of funding. You must realize some of their budget has been dispersed to other areas. At the same time, rumors of an outsource company being brought in to take over the department may be a factor in the condition of the equipment and the supplies available for them to use. The last thing they really need is people taking out their frustrations on them because the sidewalk wasn’t as clear as students had hoped it would be.

Hopefully, this has helped to clear up some frustrations towards the efforts of the grounds crew, the men of the physical plant, who actually don’t get the recognition or the appreciation they deserve. Perhaps we all need to think of better solutions for to help remove all the ice so our educations are not in jeopardy when the weather gets an icy grip on our campus. Metal cleats to dig into the ice would be one suggestion. Another would be for everyone to bond together and use newly minted green and gold “lion pride ice picks” to chip away at the sidewalks and a trusty sledgehammer to tackle the parking lots. Maybe the football team could hitch a plow to the tackling sled and run drills while clearing a path through the oval. What about doing a fundraiser to help upgrade the physical plant’s supplies and equipment? If they had a building to keep the salt in, you’d better believe they would be using salt instead of cinder.

Perhaps the next time the campus is covered in ice and you want to complain about it, ask yourself what you have done to resolve the problem. If your answer is nothing, then you pretty much have no reason to gripe. However, producing some hot air may help melt the ice.